by Scott Ehrlich, publicity director, Sacramento Harness Association

Sacramento, CA — He was well positioned in the pocket until the leader started to tire at the three-quarters, but once free, Phipps flew like Superman.

Invitational handicap trotters, racing for a $7,900 purse, were featured on a spring like night at Cal-Expo on Thursday, March 15, in which Phipps was fastest of all.

Prior to starting from post position three in the field of eight, trainer and driver Lou Pena felt the setup of the race played a major role for him.

“I had no thoughts on my chances, I just pretty much wanted to see how the race would line-up past the start,” said Pena. “As far as my strategy, I was just going to let his head go a little and hope to fall in a hole.”

Leaving, but not hard, Phipps would drop into the pocket after an eighth of a mile, thus sitting second at the quarter-mile pole, timed in :29.1, all while Pena was doing some front-end assessing.

“I wanted to see how Appian Way N (Gilbert Herrera) felt, and how that compared to my horse. If Appian Way N seemed okay, I was going to sit inside. If Appian Way N didn’t seem okay, I was going to go to the top. I thought, at the quarter-mile pole, that my chances were pretty good, if I could get a pocket trip.”

Taking a look over his right shoulder a couple of times to the 7-16th-mile pole, Pena, while out slightly with his horse, was now assessing the horses in the outer-flow.

“I took a look back to see who was the first-over horse, with the hopes that I’d see Benn’s Fire (Bruce Clarke) or Oatmeister (Ed Hensley). If I did see that one of them was first-over, I would have most likely moved out of the pocket and gone to the front. But, since neither of them were first-over, I felt confident enough to sit in.”

Remaining in the pocket at the half-mile pole, timed in :59.1, Pena was merely hoping he was right.

“I was hoping that my calculations were correct, in that I would get loose at the right time.”

That wish, at the three-quarter pole, timed in 1:28.3, was not coming true, as Phipps was now starting to get pushed back by a tiring Appian Way N, which of course had Pena concerned.

“I said to myself, ‘Uh oh, I’m really stuck.'”

Locked in now and under a total hold at the top of the lane, Pena would move his charge to the outside just into the stretch, where they would find freedom.

“When I shook loose, I felt I was lucky because he had plenty of trot to get up to them, and he felt like once he got to them, that he could get by them.”

Brushing well up the inside at the seven-eighths-mile pole, then flying with a sixteenth of a mile to go, Pena had just two thoughts.

“All I wanted him to do in the last eighth of a mile was to stay at it, and keep trotting. It wasn’t until about 20 feet from the wire that I knew I had it won.”

Closing into the lead in deep-stretch, Phipps would win by a half length. Patio Pete (Tim Maier) finished in second, and Benn’s Fire finished just a half length farther back in third.

Owned by Wade Miller in partnership with Pena, Phipps stopped the timer at 1:56.4, a seasonal best, and earned his 25th career triumph.

“It was an excellent effort by a great athlete that has some health issues, but overcame them tonight, and proved, on this night, to be number one,” Pena finished.

Wednesday night’s eighth race was a conditioned trot, in which the ageless wonder I’m Dam Goog, making his 293rd start, won for the 90th time in his outstanding career.

Proudly owned by Gregg Pistochini, and well trained and driven by Ed Hensley, the 12-year-old gelding stopped the timer at 1:58.1. The victory for I’m Dam Goog, who in addition to his 90 wins, has 66 second place finishes, and 35 third place finishes, pushed his career earnings to $621,558.

Live racing will resume at Cal-Expo on Friday, March 16, and continue through Saturday. Post time each night is at 5:35 p.m. (PDT). On Friday, Cal-Expo offers Happy Hour between 5:30 p.m.-8:00 p.m., where $1 beer, $2 wine and 25 cent buffalo wings are offered.

Cal-Expo now offers guaranteed $10,000 pools on all Pick-4’s and the New Pick-5!